For many, Thanksgiving means a time when we gather with family and friends over a meal fit for a king, catch up on others’ lives, maybe enjoy a nap and splurge on some football. It’s also a great time to break away from our busy routine and pause to reflect on what we should be thankful for in our own lives such as good health, great family/friends, being safe and living free.

As a freight broker agent, you have even MORE reasons to be thankful and now’s a great time to take pause and recognize all the things that should make you thankful and grateful you chose this challenging yet highly-rewarding profession.

Among the MANY reasons, here are my top 10 reasons to be thankful as a freight broker:

1. YOU LIVE IN AMERICA – From day to day, we lose sight of this monumental advantage. This alone should make every freight broker agent thankful that they have the right to own and operate their own business as well as enjoy other fundamental rights awarded to you as an American citizen such as the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

2. CREATING A FAMILY BUSINESS – As a successful freight broker, you’ve now turned a solid, lucrative endeavor into a family business where you can create employment for the business professionals in your family circle. What’s more, you have the flexibility to find the positions that are best suited to fit everyone. Perhaps they don’t care much for working in a dispatching position but love finding new customers or carriers or vice versa. It can be a win-win situation when everyone finds what they enjoy most and where they fit in best and you benefit from a stronger business structure with happy, productive employees. And, many years from now, the business that you and your family helped build can serve as an established legacy and priceless asset to be managed for generations to come.

3. LOW START UP AND OVERHEAD COSTS – As a rule, it typically costs around $3,500 to launch into becoming a freight broker agent. These costs include everything from training, licensing and equipping your office with everything needed to function successfully as a freight broker agent (phones, computer, desk, files, supplies, etc.). From there, it’s not uncommon for a freight broker that started their career in a spare room or garage to outgrow their surroundings and need to expand into an offsite office that is five times larger! Also, if you are working your freight broker business on your own AND work from home, you are already saving money on overhead costs. You have the advantage over other business owners by not needing to pay or paying very little for expenses such as building costs, utilities and employees.

4. NO COMMUTING – Most people would agree that working from home and making good money would be nothing short of a dream job. So, be thankful…you are living the dream! You have the luxury of sitting at your computer in comfy pajamas, enjoying lunch in your own home (and probably saving HUGE on that aspect alone), and never being concerned about traffic issues, bad weather or putting added miles and additional wear and tear onto your vehicle.

5. A PROFITABLE INDUSTRY – As reported by Michael Curry from My Carrier Resources, there were 13,565 licensed freight brokers in the US at the beginning of 2014 and that figure has climbed to 15,203 in January of 2015. That level of growth for one year is impressive to say the least and it continues to grow! This not only indicates that freight brokering is a profitable industry but also illustrates freight broker agents are in high demand. The freight broker industry has proven to be a great opportunity for inexperienced individuals, new graduates and other business professionals with little exposure or experience in the logistics industry that are seeking a reliable and rewarding career path.

6. TIA (Transportation Intermediaries Association) – As a freight broker, you can be thankful for all they do for the logistics and freight brokerage community that include programs like TIA Watchdog, TIA Certified and TIA Political Advocacy.

7. SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE INTERNET – With access to websites like www.internettruckstop.com, www.getloaded.com, and the comprehensive search ability of Google, you have powerful resources at your fingertips that freely offer up valuable insight and information to put you leaps ahead of your competition and help you do your job more thoroughly and efficiently. Helping you to quickly research new customers, gather intel, source carriers and finding the exact go-to person, are just some examples of attainable knowledge that will help you build and develop long-term relationships with your customers and vendors. Additionally, social media sites like www.linkedin.com, www.facebook.com, www.twitter.com, and www.youtube.com practically eliminate the need for cold calling and keep you informed on real-time information.*

8. SMARTPHONES AND WI-FI – It has become the running joke that no matter the need…there’s an app for that! And, it’s true! Thanks to smartphones and their ability to get more done, fast. Today, there are countless apps available to help freight brokers run, manage and track their freight brokerage activities from virtually anywhere. No longer do you need to be chained to your desk to check your email, make/receive phone calls or complete tasks.

Here are just some of the amazing apps available to freight brokers that save valuable time and provide convenience: ITS Broker, Get Loaded, MyRadar, Evernote, Google Maps, and of course, LDi AgentMate; an app that keeps our freight brokers connected and in control of their freight 24/7 with features that allow you to create/cover/dispatch/deliver loads, post/edit/delete/view open postings, validate carriers, view customer information, post to 50+ load boards in seconds, and email rate confirmations instantly to name a few.** There’s an advantage to most everything with technology but, most of all, the real benefit is enjoying extra time for yourself and your family.

9. BEING YOUR OWN BOSS – Every entrepreneur and freight broker agent gets to enjoy the freedom of making their own decisions and flexibility to create your own schedule. You get to determine your salary/raises, when you take the day off, where/when/how you conduct your business, and are the sole determining factor of how successful you want your freight brokerage to be. Whether you want to make enough to live comfortably or live a lavish life…the sky’s the limit!

10. CUSTOMERS AND CARRIER PARTNERS – Freight brokers and freight agents should never forget that their loyal customers and carrier partners are the life-blood of their business and should be thanked regularly. It takes very little effort and cost to offer a heartfelt thank you, send a pizza for lunch, mail a thank you note (with a copy to their superior), and remember their birthday or give a holiday gift.

11. BONUS – LDI AS A RESOURCE – Of course I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention www.LogisticDynamics.com. Not only do we provide high-value content in our blog but amazing information resources for freight brokers with our free reports, pre-recorded webinars and educational videos. Many talented individuals at LDi invested their time, valuable insight and seasoned expertise to create these pieces geared specifically for helping freight brokers be more successful and grow their business.***

When you take on an attitude of gratitude, you will find more contentment in all areas of your life. And, hands down, gratitude will always trump a bad attitude. Thanksgiving seems to put us in the mood to be thankful and appreciate all the things we are grateful for, but what a difference it would mean for us all if everyone instilled this way of thinking throughout the year.

What are you thankful for as a freight broker? Please share your thoughts below in the comments.

* For more details on how to find information and engage prospects in ways you never thought possible, view our free pre-recorded webinar, “Work Smarter Not Harder – How to Win More Freight Without Cold Calling”, featuring well-known presenters Sam Richter, author of Take the Cold Out of Cold Calling and Art Sobczak, author of Smart Calling that will demonstrate how knowledge itself is not power, but the USE of that knowledge is and show you specifically how to plug that information into the Smart Calling process that thousands are using to open up new accounts!

** View a demo of LDi AgentMate, an app that keeps our freight brokers connected and in control of their freight 24/7, and experience the freedom and power of real-time instant information access anytime, anywhere, all in the palm of your hand.

*** Visit LDi’s Resource Page for access to webinars, videos and free reports geared specifically for freight brokers and freight agents that want to keep current in the industry and help increase their income TODAY!

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Being able to make your own schedule would be a really nice perk to any job. I think that family time is important regardless of if you are a freight broker or an insurance agent or whatever. My husband has always been really good at making time to come home and spend time with us as a family, which I am very grateful for. I hope that everybody else gets the opportunity to do so as well!